Talking to the producers of "Law & Order" and buying a house in Tennessee:
Wamp, who heads a draft-Thompson committee, told NEWSWEEK that so many lawmakers have expressed interest in the meeting that organizers had to reserve a bigger room and extend Thompson's visit from one hour to almost a full day. "I really believe he's in," Wamp says. "I think it's only a matter of him getting his personal affairs in order."(via)
One longtime Thompson friend, who declined to be named while discussing the former senator's personal life, tells NEWSWEEK that Thompson is looking into his contract obligations to "Law & Order" and talking with producers about how his run could affect the franchise. Election law requires equal air time for candidates. If enforced, the law could mean that more than 100 episodes over the past five seasons of "Law & Order" and its various spinoffs might have to be removed from the airwaves during Thompson's run—or other candidates could demand equal air time. (But not their own show, says former Federal Election Commission official Larry Noble: no " 'Law & Order: Straight Talk Express' or 'Law & Order: It Takes a Village.' ")
Another issue: his address. Thompson and his wife, Jeri, sold their Tennessee home last year and moved to the D.C. suburbs, a closer commute to New York, where "Law & Order" is filmed. A spokesman for the Tennessee Division of Elections tells NEWSWEEK that Thompson was purged from the state's voter rolls last November. Thompson's son Fred Jr. told reporters his dad is currently "looking to buy a place" in his home state.
I think this is really stretching the equal airtime law to the point of absurdity.
And someone is buying up all the domain names:
Friends and allies of former Sen. Fred Thompson are making a number of pre-campaign maneuvers indicating the actor plans to make a run for the White House.I certainly hope it's his friends and not a squatter. That could get really expensive and embarrassing (especially if an opponent got hold of it).
Several 2008-themed Web sites have been registered in recent weeks on behalf of Mr. Thompson, and one of his fellow Tennessee Republicans has recruited 60 House lawmakers to meet with Mr. Thompson on April 18 in Washington.
Meanwhile, several domain names, including FredThompson2008.com, AmericansforThompson.com and ArthurBranch.com, named after Mr. Thompson's character on the hit NBC legal drama "Law & Order," have been purchased by an undisclosed consulting firm using a proxy service that allows them to conceal their identity.
[...]
Mr. Corallo said he has no direct knowledge of who purchased the domain names. He said some close friends and associates are likely acquiring them "for more charitable reasons" so that a Thompson campaign would not be forced into a bidding war with people who purchase domain names to sell for a profit.
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